Chapter 10
Orchestra of Death
He who fights monsters should look into that he himself does not become a monster. When you gaze along into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you. --Friederich Nietzche
" What the HELL just touched me?" Jeff whispered with a shaking gasp. He and Matt had been lost downstairs for quite some time and assumed that they were in the basement by now. Matt's flashlight had burned out a while ago (so much for shopping at a discount supply store) and the only illumination came from Jeff's torch which still had a functioning light bulb. While meandering through thick musty tunnels, they began to notice the metal pipes stretching along the ceiling, still dripping with stale water and creating deep puddles on the stony floor below.
" Something touched you?" Matt whispered in response as they both froze in fear.
" Dude something has been brushing past me and hitting me the whole time we've been down here! I swear to God there is something or someone down here trying to fucking ki-."
Jeff stopped and looked down with lowered eyes, watching Matt's hand clutching his light coat tightly.
" Dammit Matt!" He nearly shouted, sending Matt tumbling against the stone wall to their left.
" What?" he demanded in shock through the intensity at which Jeff had smacked him away.
" It's been you the whole time hasn't it? Every time a wall creaks or water drips, you grab me like a little girl and scare the hell out of me, thinking it was that homicidal maniac!"
Matt stared at him guiltily and bit his bottom lip.
" Well sorry for being scared but its kind of cold and dark down here. Besides, you've been gasping and jumping around all night and I still haven't seen this shadow you keep saying is creeping along the walls." He explained calmly as if they were safe at home or in a comfortable hotel room.
Jeff found it slightly odd that his voice carried no tune of fear but figured that perhaps it was because Matt was perfect at hiding that sort of emotion. Just like Chris, he could push down all that terror so easily but unlike his Canadian friend, he never became aggressive or angry. Matt was calm when he needed others to become calm.
" I'm telling you man, there is something evil down here." Jeff stated with a low voice, flashing his light down the hall and watching it reflecting off of the glistening puddles.
" You're paranoid. There is no one down here but us and if you keep freaking out over a little shadow, I'm going to have to go on without you." Matt explained shortly before beginning to walk again. Jeff's eyes widened and he followed closely beside him, carefully stepping over raised stones and pieces of brick.
" You want to leave me because I'm scared?" he demanded with quiet disbelief. Matt's dark vision never left the black pit of halls before them and he continued on without stopping for irrelevant discussion.
" There is nothing down here Jeff."
" Then why do I keep hearing footsteps?"
" You're not hearing anything. Your mind is playing tricks on you, that's all." Matt replied with a heavy sigh, running his hand along the damp stone wall they were following.
For hours, they remained silent and continued finding their way through the massive lower level sometimes referred to as a basement. Even in the light, this place seemed ghostly and dark and having a psychotic patient running around the asylum was not exactly helping the situation. He could have been down here for all they knew…that or perhaps Mark was down here hiding. Either way, they were still determined to find their friend before sun up. As their long journey increased, they both discovered that the atmosphere at this end of the basement was becoming bone-chilling cold and that there was this eerie stale smell coming from somewhere.
Matt suddenly stopped as he felt something sharp poke his hand followed by a straw-like sensation. Jeff froze in place and watched as Matt lifted his hand off of the wall while holding a tangled mesh of matted hair and dried blood. Jeff shone his light on the bronze coloured hairs and swallowed hard while Matt gave a disgusted look.
" Well…it's not Mark's."
" No shit." Jeff replied weakly as Matt shook the mess from his hand. They both turned their heads and stared at the wall; the flashlight caused the golden hairs to glisten beneath the light and it was evident that they were still tangled between stone and grout. Obviously that had been someone's unfortunate demise as the blood stains on the wall became larger near the end of the hall.
" Maybe Chris and Brian found Mark and are tossing back a few cold ones upstairs." Jeff whispered with closed eyes, praying that Matt would agree to leave the basement as soon as possible with him.
" What's that?" Matt asked suddenly, interrupting Jeff's prayers.
" What's what?"
" That door." The taller of the two replied and grabbed the flashlight, shining it in the direction of the new discovery.
" Well Matt I believe you already said yourself it was a door." Jeff stated with agitation knowing instinctively that Matt would venture towards it without knowing what was behind it.
" Come on." Matt whispered and began to move forward but was stopped by a stiff hand against his chest.
" Man, that door is metal and is probably locked. There is no way in hell we are getting in there so could we please just forget it and find a way upstairs?" Jeff demanded desperately, watching his brother's dark gaze burning into him with curiosity. Without another word, Matt pushed past him and pressed his left hand against the cold metallic door, while the other gripped the doorknob tightly.
" Matt, this is a very bad fucking idea." Jeff whispered but was silenced by Matt who gave him an annoyed glare.
" What if Mark's in there?"
" And what if he's not?"
" Then I guess we'll just have to find out now won't we?"
" Matt you can't be serious! You don't know what's in there!" Jeff hissed but closed his mouth as the door creaked open loudly. Resisting the urge to growl at Matt for being so damn blinded by curiosity, Jeff followed him towards the middle of the dark room.
" What the hell is this place?" Jeff whispered in shock as they both stared at their surroundings. In the middle of the room stood a massive metal table with worn down wheels on each leg. Each time the flashlight passed the metal, deep scratches would glimmer on the surface of the metal and create creepy reflections on the tiled walls of the room. Connected to the edge of the table stood a long high and skinny metal faucet, probably used for getting rid of excess blood if necessary. Below the table, indenting into the floor was a rusted old drain.
The one thing though, that attracted their vision to it was the dark brown stains still clinging around the edge of the circular base. Moving their vision up again, they noticed the dented metal doors inserted into the wall. Six of those doors were open, revealing deep cavernous drawers, used to keep the bodies frigid and icy. In fact, not only were the insides of the drawers icy, but the entire room felt like a freezer.
Matt breathed out heavily and could see his smoky breath disappearing into the air as if it were some ghost, rising up out of his lungs. Their attention was now brought down to a small metal tray with wheels and on that tray were some very dangerous and sharp looking objects, glinting malevolently into their eyes.
And just as they thought this place couldn't get any creepier, in the corner of the room stood a hugely built door with metal bars covering a small opening. Lifting the flashlight over the door, they both read the letters situated against a dull silver plaque which read: INCINERATOR. Slowly, Matt and Jeff looked at each other and shivered simultaneously as they realized what room this was.
" Dude, we're in the fucking morgue." Jeff stated in response to his own question. Rob swallowed his fear and felt an uneasy chill run up his spine, causing the hairs to stand up on the back of his neck.
" Okay, I take it back. Maybe we shouldn't have come in here."
" You think?" Jeff demanded but jumped suddenly as the door behind them slammed shut; the flashlight falling to the floor. Breathing heavily, they both slowly moved away from the door towards the drawers and stopped, watching the darkness intently. Even with their hearts pounding in their ears, they couldn't help but hear the slow footsteps treading towards them, much like the ticking of a clock. The rolling of the flashlight stopped as a foot pressed onto it and was slowly replaced by a hand picking it up. Matt and Jeff both stared at the form with sheer terror, not sure if they even wanted to know who he was. The man raised the flashlight to about waist level and stared at the two shivering men at the back of the room.
With a small smile, his glistening eyes scanned them and much to his own amusement of seeing two people frightened to the point of pissing their pants, he wouldn't allow this to drag on forever.
" Tsk, tsk…running around an old dusty morgue. You're both liable to get hurt down here. After all, this room is filled with knives and all sorts of dangerous objects. One slip and you could become a sliced tomato."
Jeff and Matt instantly relaxed as they listened to the familiar voice echoing off of the walls.
" Dammit, why the hell did you have to slam that fucking door? You scared the shit out of us!" Jeff stated loudly while watching his friend slowly advancing towards him.
" Gosh I'm sorry. Next time I'll be sure to close it quietly so the rats and other rodents won't shit their pants." He replied with a low voice, stopping suddenly to stare into their darkened eyes.
" Where's your other half…and your shirt?" Matt asked quietly, eyeing the man's bare chest.
" Oh him, he's upstairs sleeping in the kitchen. I figured I'd try to look for you guys and make sure you didn't get yourselves killed."
" Well gee, we really appreciate the sentiment but do you think leaving him upstairs alone is the best thing to do? I mean, what if he's m-."
" –Murdered? Nah, so far people have been killed while they were awake. Dying in one's sleep isn't exactly a very invigorating thing to see."
" People?" Matt asked weakly while giving a nervous look of confusion. Jeff sensed the tension in Matt's voice and peered at the man standing before them with wide eyes.
" Oh my God…"
The man gave a wide smile and nodded, looking around the morgue with satisfaction.
" Poor Mark. You know he had a really good fighting chance. Not like Shawn who unfortunately died before he even realized what was going on. Oh and as for the shirt? I figured it would be less of a mess if I just chucked it."
" You bastard…it's been you the whole time hasn't it! You killed Shawn and Mark!" Jeff yelled as Matt remained silent with shock and fear.
" Well…I can't take all the credit." He laughed in response, then frowned in thought.
" Wait…I lied. I can."
" I can't believe this…right under our noses. How the hell could you do this? Mark and Shawn were your friends!" Jeff nearly shrieked, causing an amused smile to overcome the man's face.
" A common misconception. They weren't my friends…they were his friends. And by the way, he is not responsible for any of this. He's merely a host, a piece of flesh. I on the other hand am the mastermind behind all of this."
" Mastermind? You killed two innocent people!" Jeff yelled as loud as he could with sheer fury.
" You're right…and I'm about to kill two more…" he growled back.
" You sick son of a bitch." Jeff muttered angrily through his teeth and advanced towards his 'friend' but was instantly sent flying backwards as he was punched in the face…hard. Matt looked up from Jeff's crumpled form on the floor and blinked quickly with fear. Good Lord he was going to be murdered just like Shawn and apparently Mark.
" P-please don't hurt us." He whimpered quietly, hopefully in an attempt to spark his friend's consciousness.
" Don't worry…I won't hurt both of you right at this moment." He replied with a calm voice that seemed to cause Matt to relax a little, despite seeing one of his best friends become a homicidal maniac.
" But…I will hurt him first." Matt's eyes widened to their full extent until everything went black, followed by a throbbing pain in his head.
The dark figure loomed over Jeff's shaking body as he slowly began to awaken from the punch, and dropped the broken flashlight he had used to smash against Matt's head.
" You know," he began as he lifted Jeff up by the arms and pushed him onto the autopsy table.
" The more time I spend with you people," He gave a heavy sigh while bringing his legs up onto the table and restraining them with leather straps as well as his arms. " The more pissed off I become. And do you want to know why I become so fucking pissed?" he asked slowly as Jeff's eyes began to flutter open painfully.
" You people are all so fucking weak. You tremble and fall to your knees the moment you think you're in danger. No punching, no kicking, no biting. Have you any idea how fucking irritating that gets after a while?" he demanded casually while picking up a long shiny blade from the tray, then began eyeing it with interest. Jeff stared at him in a complete daze, still feeling the throbbing sensation in his jaw.
" Just once…just once I want someone to come at me, you know? One good fight at least. Being threatening and intimidating is quite exhilarating I must admit…but there's no challenge! You're all lazy asses! Begging me not to hurt you? What the hell kind of shit is that?"
Jeff's eyes widened as he ripped off his shirt and lowered the blade to his left clavicle.
" Hmmm…I guess torturing you will just have to satisfy me for now." He smiled, pressing the blade into Jeff's soft skin, now dotted with perspiration.
" You fucking psycho!" Jeff screeched as pain immediately began flooding the area where the blade had entered.
" I prefer the term: Criminally Insane." He replied almost with amusement and admittance. Jeff yelped helplessly as his 'friend' began dragging the sharp blade down towards the middle of his chest. Blood oozed and squeezed through the parted skin, just begging to burst and squirt.
" You're one of the lucky ones my dear friend. Do you want to know why?" he asked calmly as if nothing was happening. Jeff's chest heaved up and down raggedly as he felt the blade moving up to his right clavicle.
" Fuck you…" he hissed desperately.
" Fine, I'll tell you anyway. You are lucky because," He slowly began dragging the blade through the other side of his clavicle all the way down to the middle of the chest, meeting up with the other incision.
" You're probably the first person in the history of man to experience their own autopsy." He breathed, staring into Jeff's frightened eyes, shaking with tears.
Pressing the blade down hard, he gutted him like a fish all the way down to his crotch, causing blood to spill and splash onto his tight chest, all the while hearing Brad's screams ringing in his head. He stared down at his specimen with amused eyes, admiring his perfect Y-incision.
" Hell, I'd be a great medical examiner." He mumbled to himself and placed the dripping knife back onto the tray carefully. Turning back to the squirming, trembling man on the table, he gave a wicked smile and pressed his fingers into his incisions, then ripped open the skin, exposing the rib cage. Blood tricked and pumped through Jeff's nose and mouth, choking him from what he had left of life.
He then picked up a massive looking butcher's knife (which looked more like a huge thick blade the size of a table attached to a handle) and pressed it down onto the ribs, cracking and splintering them open. Blood and pieces of bone flew up into his face but that didn't seem to faze him as he glared down into Jeff's lifeless orbs.
Reaching down, he gripped the limp oozing heart and ripped it out with such force, blood began trickling down his wrist and arm. He stared at the heart and squeezed it as hard as he could and watched as it exploded into a mangled piece of muscle and tissue, squirting blood all over Jeff's greying face.
Shaking the flesh onto the floor, he grabbed the overly sized rib cruncher and held it over his neck, smiling deviously with pleasure and satisfaction. With a crack, the head became separate from the neck and rolled lazily to its side…the eyes still wide open in horror. The man once known as a friend to Jeff, stepped towards the faucet while staring down at Matt's unconscious body. Water and blood mixed as one and rained down onto the floor, swirling into the drain and disappearing into the leaky pipes beneath the asylum.
When he was sure he had cleaned off all traces of blood from his hands, arms, chest and face, he proceeded to grab Matt into his arms and drag him towards one of the chilly drawers. With a grunt, he slid Matt onto a slab and rolled him into the darkened cabinet. Staring at the unmoving form inside, he blinked slowly with a frown…then slammed the door shut.
Silence no longer deafened the room as blood dripped thickly onto the tile flooring, creating a frightening orchestra of death, echoing off the walls.
Thanks to my reviewers:Edward's Josie Black, Dark Kaneanite, Tina, CMPunksxXxGirl, TVL, Mosvie 2k8, wrestlefan4 and Animal luvr 4 Life.
Loves ya!
Angel
xxx